Automatic fruit juice extractor



April 27, E3?, c. B. SEGOVIA AUTOMATIC FRUIT JUICE EXTRACTOR Filed Nov.9, 1935 v:a sheets-sheet 1 v-\j 47 3g 47 Crispin B. Elmeg-131;@ BY g7a4/mv,

ATTORN EYS pril27, 1937. c. B. SEGOVIA AUTOMATIC FRUIT JUICE EXTRACTORFiled Nov. 9, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Crispi/w B, S

Patented Apr. 27, 1937 n UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,078,737 AUTOMATICFnUi'r JUICE EXTRACTOR I Crispin B. Segovia, New York, N. Y. ApplicationNovember 9, 1935, Serial No. 49,077 3 Claims. (Cl. 100-39) Thisinvention relates to an improved device ever the shaft 3 rotates, thefeeding wheel 5 will for extracting liuice from oranges or other fruitalso rotate. A ratchet wheel 8 is rigidly secured and has for an objectto provide a construction to the shaft 3 as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. Afixed which will automatically function. pawl 9 coacts with the ratchetwheel 8 so as to Another object of the invention is to provide a preventit rotating in a reverse direction. As machine which may have oranges orother fruit shown in the two figures just mentioned, a

squeezing the same and directing the Juice to a I rotates, link I3 willbe reciprocated and condesired point and the remaining part toa secondsequently the pawl I I will be moved back and i5 point. forth and asitrmoves to the left in Fig. 5 it An additional object, morespecifically, is to will partially rotate wheel 8 and shaft 3. As theprovide a machine in which oranges or other parts are proportioned eachrotation of pinion fruit may be fed and in which one orange or I5 willmove shaft 3 one-eighth of a revolution. other fruit may be grasped andbrought into en- As indicated particularly in Fig. 2, the bevel gagementwith a cutter and then the severed pinion I5 meshes continually with thebevel gear parts into operative engagement with a squeez- I6 rigidlysecured with shaft I'I which is coning. device so as to automaticallyremove the nected by spiral gears I8 and I9 with the driving juice fromthe oranges during the actuation of shaft 20. This driving shaft carriesa large gear the machine. 2| which continually meshes with the smallgear In the accompanying drawings: 22 which receives power from electricmotor or Fig-1 is a side view of a machine disclosing an other primemover through shaftl 23. Ordinarily, embodiment of the invention, aportion being during the actuation of the device shaft 23 Vis broken forbetter illustrating the construction; continually rotating andconsequently the parts Fig. 2 is an edge view of the machine showncontinue to function, though the feed wheel 5 in Fig. l; will moveintermittently. As indicated on the Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view takenon line drawing, there are eight pairs of armsor--spokes v 3-3 of Fig.2; 6, but it will be evident that the parts could be Fig. 4 is a viewpartly in plan and partly in proportioned so that a less number orgreater section of a chute and certain other parts, the number couldbe'used. An orange gripping desame being taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;vice is carried by each of the arms 6 and as they Fig. 5 is a side viewof the power transmitting A move past the feeding chute 24 they grip anand feeding means for the rotation of parts of orange and carry itforward intermittently until the device; and it has passed the squeezingdevice. The various Figis an enlarged fragmentary sectionaiview grippingdevices 25 are formed in two parts,

40 through Fig. 1, the same being shown in connamely, parts 26 and 21 asShown in Fig. 3. As

nection with an ejecting cam. these two parts are identical inconstruction, the

Referring to the accompanying drawings by description of one will applyto both. In Fig. 6,

numeral, I indicates a frame which may have a detailed view is shown ofpart 21 of the gripsuitable uprights and cross pieces whereby the DingdeVCe- This iS Connected t0 One 0f the ,various moving and other partsof the device arms 6 by suitable screws 6.

may be supported. The frame I Vis formed with It Will be noted from Fg 6that lthe gripping a pair of uprights 2 which supports the rotatingdevice 1S provided With What may be termed a.

shaft 3. This shaft extends through the hub 4 rigid body 28 havingcutaway DDItiOn 0f Chamof what may be termed a feeding Wheel 5. The ber29 and a cup-shaped DOItiOrl 30 ntO Which wheel 5 has not only the hub,but a number of the orange is fed. A number 0f Small pointed f pairs ofspokes 6, said spokes being flexible subprotuberances 3| are provided inthe cup-shaped stantially in a direction parallel to the axis of recess30 so that the Orange may be properly axle 3. The hub 4 is rigidlysecured to the`ax1e1 gripped and held against shifting movement dur- 3by any suitable means, as, for instance, the ing the actuation of thedevice. An electing block 32 is slidingly mounted in the body 28 but Cilwhen the parts are in position as shown in Fig.v 6 an orange may beproperly held in the gripping device, but when the parts are as shown inthe upper part of Fig. 3 the orange is being ejected. Tubular members 33and 34 are threaded into the ejector block 32 and are guided by pins 35and 36 screwed into arm 6. Springs 31 and 38 surround the pins 35 and 36and act to normally hold theblock 32 substantially in the position shownin Fig. 6. Each of the tubular members 33 and 34 is provided'with anenlarged head against which the springs rest and also to which theflexible cables39 and 40 are secured. These cables pass over a tubularmember 4| secured on arm 6 and to the enlarged head 42 of the ejectingshaft 43. A spring 44 normally holds the shaft 43 and associated partsin the position shown in Fig. 6. The shaft 43 is provided with enlargedend 45 having a threaded bore for receiving the screw 46 which acts toclamp the bevel wheel 41 in place. When the ejecting mechanism is tofunction, the parts are moved to the position shown in the upper part ofFig. 3 wherein the bevel parts of the respective wheels 41 engage therespective cams 48 and 49 which act to pull the shaft 43 to the right asshown in Fig. 6, whereupon the exible cables 39 and 40 will pull thetubular members 33 and 34 so as to move the block or plate 32` theposition shown in the upper part of Fig. 3. This will force the orangeor orange skin off of the protuberances 3| and by reason of the smoothsurface of block 32 and the relative position of parts will permit theorange skin. pulp, and the like to drop down by gravity into the chute58. This chute may direct. the orange skin and pulp to any desiredpoint.

As shown in Figs. l and.4, the chute 24 is provided with a bottom 5 I,side walls 52, and a small extension 53 which projects into the feedingwheel 5 as shown inlFig. l. Arranged adjacent and principally below thechute 24 are spreading cams 54 and 55 positioned to receive the outerend portions 56 of the respective arms 6 asthey leave the cams 48 and49. During the further operation of the device, the arms are maintainedspread apart as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4 until they comeopposite the chute 24. At the moment they come opposite the chute, theouter ends 56 move 01T of the cams 54 and 55 and consequently thegripping members 26 and 21 Will quickly move toward each other to gripan orange as indicated in full lines in Fig. 4. After the orange hasbeen gripped, it is moved intermittently around until it reaches thedisk cutter 51. As indicated in Fig. 2, the casing 58 is provided withbevel portions 59 and 60 which are positioned to engage the outer endportion 56 of the arms 6 so as to force the same toward each other andthereby cause the protuberances 3| to be pressed into the orange wherebya good gripping action is secured. The casing 58 may .cover half or moreof the wheel 5 though it may present only a quarter of a circle as shownin Fig. 1.

In addition to having the squeezing cams 59 and 60, the casing 58-isprovided with grooves 6| and 62 whereby the bevel wheel 41 may freelymove without functioning at this time. After an orange has been grippedas just described, it is moved for a little over a half revolution bywheel 5-before it engages the cutter 51, it being understood that asshown in Fig. l the wheel 5 moves counter-clockwise. It will also beevident that the orange must be cut and then squeezed in order' toremove the juice and means must be provided outwardly and tosubstantially for directing the julc to a desired point and the skin andpulp to a second point. As indicated particularly in Figs. l and 3, therotary knife 51 is positioned to cut the orange centrally withoutstriking the body 28 of the respective gripping members 26 and 21. Thecutting disk 51 is supported by a shaft 63 which preferably carries asmall sprocket wheel 64 so as to accommodate the driving sprocket chain65 which passes around a large sprocket 66. The sprocket 66 is securedto a shaft 61 whichcarries a pulley 68 accommodating the belt 69, whichbelt passes around the large pulley 1D, said large pulley being rigidlysecured to shaft 26. If desired, instead of having a pulley and beltsprocket wheels and sprocket chain could be used. By this means,whenever shaft 20 is being rotated, the cutter 51 will be rotated and ata comparatively high rate of speed.

AAdjacent the cutter 51, there are provided cams 1| and 12. These camsare positioned so that the respective ends 13 and 14 (Figs. 1 and 3)will be closer together than the end portion 56 of arm 6 so that thesearms will readily pass over the outside of the cams 1I and 12. Thesecams are parallel for part of the length, namely, a sufficient length topermit the orange to be completely cut before the end portions 56 of arm6 engage the inclined portions 15 and 16. When this happens, the arms 6are spread apart more and more until they are moved apart sufficientlyto permit the respective halves to move opposite the respective ends ofthe squeezing block 11, which block is supported by a standard 18preferably formed integral with a spider 19. The spider is secured inany manner to the juice discharge tube 80. This tube is preferablyreduced at the lower end and directs the juice to a suitable container8|. As soon as the squeezing members 26 and 21 with the respectivehalves of the orange come opposite the queezing head or block 11 theends of the arm 6 will slide off of the cams 1| and 12 and whereupon themembers 26 and 21 will move against the block or head 11. The resilientaction of the arms 6 is not suicient to cause the proper squeezing ofthe orange as shown at the center of Fig. 3. In view of this fact, thereare provided squeezing cams 82 and 83 which are formed identical so thatthe description of one will apply to both. These cam's areesecured tothe respective driving shafts 84 and are provided with substantiallysemi-circular parts 85 and with an oset 81. These cams act uponsqueezing arms 88 and 89. As these are identical, the description of onewill apply to both.

In Fig. 2 it will be seen that arm 88 is pivotally mounted at 89 to theframe l, and has a functioning surface 98 which is pressed against thewheel 41 by cam 82 whereby the member-26 is moved over to secure adesired squeezing action for the orange. It will be understood that theother half of the orange will be squeezed in a similar manner. Thesqueezing arm 86 is provided With an auxiliary arm 9| on which ismounted a cam 92. A spring 93 is secured to a fixed point on the frameand to a point on the arm 88. This spring is a retractile spring andwhen the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 it is undertension. When cam 82 slips off arm 88, spring 93 will quickly swing arm88 over to the dotted position shown in Fig. 2 and cam rail 92 willengage the arm 6 and swing the same outwardly so as to pull the members26 and the orange skin and pulp from the squeezing head 11. As soon asthis occurs, the wheel 5 will begin to move and will move a distance ofone-eighth of a revolution. This movement will cause the parts to moveto a position whereby the wheels 41 will move along the cams 4B and 49thereby causing the ejecting mechanism to function as heretoforedescribed. As soon as the wheels 4l move oi the cams 48 and 49, the arms6 will automatically, by their own resiliency, move onto the cams 54 and55 and remain spread until they move off these cams at the upper endthereof.` Substantially at the same timel the end of the arm 6 which hasjust had an orange skin released therefrom will engage the respectivecams 54 and 55 and be maintained spread as the wheel 5 continues tomove. It will thus be seen that upon each one-eighth of a revolution,one orange is received and one orange is squeezed. The respective gearwheels and other parts are proportionedv to secure this result and afterthe device has been set up and put in working condition it is merelynecessary to turn on the power and then feed the oranges or other fruitdown the chute 24. If, for any reason, an orange is not deposited ineach of the gripping structures as they pass the chute, no harm will bedone, but the various mechanisms will function in the same way as if anorange had been inserted.

I claim:

1. In an orange squeezer, means for gripping and holding the cutoranges, means for squeezing the juice from said oranges, said meansincluding a pair of spaced members, a stationary squeezing head, andmeans forA forcing cut oranges against said squeezing head, each of saidspaced members having a recess provided with protuberances for grippingan orange and means for ejecting the orange, said ejecting meansincluding a sliding ejectingplate, a pair of members extending from saidejecting plate, a pair of cables for actuating said members extendingfrom said ejecting plate, a shaft for actuating said cables, a beveledwheel connected with said shaft and a stationary cam acting on the bevelwheel for moving the same to cause said shaft to function to pull saidcable as said feed wheel moves.

2t An orange squeezer, including a feed wheel having a plurality ofpairs of arms, an orange gripping structure associated with each pair ofarms, means for halving the oranges while held by said orange grippingstructure, a stationary orange squeezing head, means for spreading thearms of the feeding wheel as they approach said squeezing head, a poweractuated means for moving the orange gripping structure toward said headafter said gripping structure is moved to a position opposite the headwhereby the halved oranges will be forced against said head, said poweractuating means acting to move said orange gripping structure laterallyaway from said squeezing head after the squeezing operation, a pair ofejecting structures carried by said orange gripping structure, and apair oi stationary cams positioned to cause the actuation of saidejecting structures as said feed wheel moves a squeezed orange away fromsaid head.

3. A device for squeezing fruit comprising a rotating feed wheel formedwith pluralities of pairs of radiating arms, an orange receiving cupmoving the respective cups of each pair of cups toward each other afterthe cups have passed the cutter, a squeezing head positioned to engagethe orange halves as said cups are moved toward each other, means formoving the cups apart after the squeezing operation, a pulp ejectorcarried by each of said cups, and means for causing said ejectors tofunction after the cups have moved away from said squeezing head.

CRISPIN B. SEGOVIA.

